WilkinsonEyre unveils plans for Old Oak Common HS2 super station | News

The huge, so-called ‘super hub’ in west London includes subterranean platforms for High Speed 2 (HS2) services to Birmingham and beyond, as well as linking up with Elizabeth Line routes into central London and Heathrow Airport.

According to the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), the new high-speed station will ‘help kick-start the UK’s largest regeneration project’, which will transform the former railway and industrial area into a new neighbourhood with 25,500 new homes.

The split-level station will be built on the former Great Western railway depot and HS2 is already clearing the site in preparation for construction later this year.

The six 450m-long HS2 platforms will be built in a 1km long underground box, with twin tunnels taking high-speed trains east to the terminus at Euston and west to the outskirts of London.

Once up-and-running in 2026, it is estimated 250,000 people will pass through the ‘super hub’ every day.

WSP’s project director on Old Oak Common, Adrian Tooth, said: ‘As well as being a catalyst for regeneration within the wider OPDC area, the new HS2 Old Oak Common station will become a landmark destination featuring an area of urban realm to the west of London.

‘Our design responds to the station’s function, recognising that more than half of those using the station will interchange between the below-ground HS2 and the Elizabeth Line. The station form takes inspiration from our Victorian railway heritage and the juxtaposition between the above and below ground railways.’

WilkinsonEyre and WSP officially landed the job early last year when HS2 named the design teams for four of its proposed stations. The practice is also working with Arup on the Birmingham Interchange while Grimshaw will work with WSP on Birmingham Curzon Street and with Haptic and Arup on the huge overhaul of London Euston.